1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a suppression apparatus for explosive devices.
2. Background of the Invention
In recent years, particularly since Sep. 11, 2001, a major concern has been how to deal with unattended articles left in public places which are suspected to be, or to contain explosive devices. Since the first responder in such cases, e.g., security guard, police or fire department may not have the expertise to determine the nature of the device and/or to disarm it, it is important to isolate the device from its surroundings and to contain and suppress any explosion which may occur while the area is evacuated and the second responder (e.g., a bomb squad) is called.
To meet this need, several different types of systems have been proposed in the prior art. For example, in systems employing foam, a tent made of ballistic material is placed around a suspected device and is filled with foam, which acts to suppress any blast and resulting fragments. However, disadvantages of this type of system are that a large water source and pump are necessary to generate the aqueous foam solution, and once the device is put into place access is precluded so that the device cannot be disarmed.
In systems which are “soft-sided” the explosive device must sometimes be picked up and placed into a container, which is considered to be a negative feature. Bomb blankets, which fall into the “soft-sided” category, typically provide little protection, as they are propelled upwardly from the explosion and fragments are free to escape radially around the device.
In prior art systems which are hard-sided, typically a container made of high strength steel is utilized, which contains the explosion and/or releases the overpressure in a controlled manner. Such systems find use in mail rooms and airport baggage areas. However, hard-sided systems typically require the suspected device to be placed into the system, which as mentioned above is an undesirable feature. In addition, hard-sided containers are very heavy (typically over 250 lbs), which preclude them from being man-portable.
There also exist in the prior art, systems including containers which are filled with liquid such as water and which are constructed so that the liquid inside the container is in the shape of a hollow cylinder having a predetermined, uniform thickness. There is typically an open cavity located interiorly of the container, and the container is placed over the suspected device so that the device is fully within the cavity and is surrounded by the container and liquid. The container may also be wrapped with ballistic material. While liquid such as water is in general an effective medium for suppressing explosions, it has been found that the devices of the prior art generally allow too many explosive fragments to penetrate the container walls and escape to the outside where they may cause damage.